MOVES to ban plastic cotton buds in Scotland have been backed by East Lothian Council.

The local authority has given its backing to the plans in support of county charity Fidra, which it says was influential in the Scottish Government’s decision to look at new legislation.

Fidra, based in North Berwick, is an environmental charity which has been campaigning for the plastic stems on cotton buds to be replaced by paper alternatives for five years.

In a submission to the Scottish Government, East Lothian Council said that it supported a ban on the manufacture or sale of plastic-stemmed buds in Scotland after recognising that awareness-raising campaigns were not having the impact needed.

The council said in the submission: “East Lothian Council recognises the negative impact of plastic-stemmed cotton buds on East Lothian’s coast. The council supports the work of the East Lothian-based environmental charity Fidra, whose work led to the Scottish Government announcing plans to introduce legislation to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds in Scotland.”

In the spring this year, a beach clean undertaken by volunteers at Aberlady Bay found 195 plastic cotton bud stems on a 100-metre section of beach.

Fidra also reported that in August last year, more than 1,500 cotton buds were found on just 100 metres of Gullane Beach in East Lothian.

The Scottish Government is consulting on the proposed ban, which aims to protect the seas from plastic pollution, which it says contributes to the global marine plastic problem, damages the marine environment and wildlife, present a risks to public health and risks fragments of plastic entering the food chain.